Eureka educator seeks to bike across U.S. in 12 days to promote childhood literacy

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Freshwater resident and Eureka City Schools Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services Michael Davies-Hughes, 49, is set to race in a 3,000-mile bike race from Oceanside, Calif., to Maryland in June that he must complete within 12 days. Davies-Hughes is using the race the to promote awareness to childhood literacy and to raise at least $50,000 for the Decade of Difference Early Literacy Partners Program. - Michael Davies-Hughes — Contributed

Freshwater resident and Eureka City Schools Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services Michael Davies-Hughes (bottom left) kneels next to his support outside of the Samoa Cookhouse. The support crew will be following Davies-Hughes to provide him support during the 3,000-mile Race Across America in June. - Michael Davies-Hughes — contributed

Freshwater resident Michael Davies-Hughes starts his weekdays now at 2 a.m. by hopping on his road bike and heading out for a 60-mile ride. On his weekends, his daily rides ramp up to 100-150 miles.

But come June, he must be ready to pedal for up to 20 hours a day, traveling 260 miles per day, on very little sleep, in order to complete what has been dubbed the toughest endurance race in the world — a 3,000-mile bicycle race across America’s deserts, mountains and plains that must be completed within 12 days.

“My body is going to tell me, ‘Get off the bike. Stop pedaling. This is ridiculous,’ ” Davies-Hughes said.

But the 49-year-old cyclist is not just participating in the Race Across America to test his physical and mental will.

As the Eureka City Schools assistant superintendent of educational services, Davies-Hughes is also seeking to use the race to bring attention to a local issue of childhood literacy.

Davies-Hughes is hoping to raise at least $50,000 for a local volunteer program — the Decade of Difference Early Literacy Partners Program — that works to ensure young children are proficient readers.

“Having worked in Humboldt County as an educator for many years, I understand that student literacy is so important for a child’s future success in our community,” he said. “ … What happens is that the further the students get behind in reading in their early grades, it just becomes more difficult to catch up later on. Most students don’t. They just fall further and further behind.”

About 14,000 county residents are considered functionally illiterate, meaning they have below a fifth grade reading level, Davies-Hughes said. That number jumps up to 23,000 people for county residents that have below an eighth grade reading level, he said.

Davies-Hughes is hoping enough money will be raised to not only continue to train volunteers, but also expand outreach to parents and guardians. If more than $50,000 is raised, Davies-Hughes said they are hoping to make a mini-grant program to help other organizations working to promote early childhood literacy.

Davies-Hughes said he has been biking for 25 years and first heard about the Race Across America in 2016. He decided to participate in a UCI Road World Championships time trial in November that year to qualify and test whether he was up to the challenge of the 12-day bike race. To qualify, he had to bike 400 miles in 24 hours. Davies-Hughes said he biked 410 miles, which is about the distance from Eureka to Monterey, in 23.5 hours.

Turning 50 this year, Davies-Hughes said the Race Across America is a once in a lifetime opportunity.

The intensive training began in October, he said, beginning with shorter bike rides, weight training and swimming.

“I’m going to be completing 1.1 million pedal strokes for that 3,000 miles,” he said. “… It’s not just about endurance. It’s about having enough muscle strength to be able to maintain that efficiency for that amount of time.”

Since December, Davies-Hughes has been taking longer bike rides and plans to go to Oceanside — the starting point for the race — in April to do the first 750-800 miles of the race over a three-day period.

Davies-Hughes won’t be alone when he is racing.

He’ll have two support vehicles following him and an RV dubbed “The Mothership” where he will be able to eat a proper meal and get his daily 3 hours of sleep.

His 10-person support team — including his eldest daughter Seren and his father-in-law Hank Beck — will not only be there to provide him food and water on the road, but also psychological support as the fatigue, lack of sleep and physical exhaustion take hold. He will be burning 10,000-12,000 calories per day and must be able to endure desert heat, high elevations and any other condition that the nation’s landscape will throw at him.

But Davies-Hughes said there is more to the race for him than just an endurance test.

“I can’t wait for example to be riding my bicycle in the twilight in the desert in Arizona between Monument Valley and then riding over the Rockies,” he said. “I’m really looking forward to taking it all in from that standpoint.

“No doubt I’m going to suffer quite a bit,” he continued with a laugh.

Davies-Hughes will be one of 38 solo riders to participate in the race, with other riders coming from around the world, he said. Davies-Hughes himself is a Welsh-American who gained U.S. citizenship in 2016.

But not all racers will finish.

“The tragedy is people have made it to the last time station and had to be pulled out because they didn’t make that last time station,” Davies-Hughes said. “I don’t want to be in that position. But the success rate is only 50 percent.”

Davies-Hughes said he’s no professional athlete, but an ordinary person who is doing an extraordinary feat.

“One thing I’ll be able to do through this is inspire people to push their limits and realize that while they may not be gifted in one area you can certainly pursue your dreams and do something you couldn’t imagine you could do,” he said.